Business
Youth Leader Seeks Time Frame On IOCs’ Relocation
A youth leader in the Niger Delta, Clement Chisa, has called on the Federal Government to give a time frame to oil multinationals over the directive to relocate their head offices to their operational bases in the Niger Delta.
Chisa who is the co-ordinator, Niger Delta Youths for Change (NDYC) said unless such time frame was properly spelt out, authorities of the multinationals may not heed the directive.
He said, “since the Vice President gave the directive, there is no sign by the authorities to take steps towards relocating to the Niger Delta.
He accused the multinationals of being interested in what they can get from the region and not what they can give back to the region.
Reacting to the decision of the House of Representatives on the issue as an executive action, Chisa said. “It is not likely that members from Lagos State would support such relocation order since most of the oil firms are in Lagos and they benefit from the oil firms stay in their areas.
“But call a spade a spade instead of a working implement, the directive of the Vice President who represented Mr President was the best option that could engender peaceful development”.
The youth leader explained that some parts of the region, particularly Lagos have been benefitting from the state of things in the region.
“The ports in the South-South are almost dead just to increase economic activities in Lagos Ports,” he said.
Chisa, who commended the federal government’s relocation order appealed to the government to take a step further by giving time frame on the relocation order.
He appealed to the multinational oil firms to heed the order and not be deceived by the antics of some selfish Nigerians stressing that relocating their head offices to the region would engender better relationship with the people.
Chris Oluoh
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
